A Republican Senate hopeful backed by President Donald Trump is facing backlash in his own party after he was accused of helping a convicted child sex offender get leadership roles.
But Trump has only doubled down amid the growing scandal, declaring Monday that the beleaguered candidate will be “fantastic” and “one of the best.”
His glowing testimonial for North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley came shortly after the Daily Beast emailed the White House seeking comment on the controversy, and whether it might be an issue for the president.
Whatley, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, has campaigned against his rival’s supposed “soft-on-crime policies,” a sentiment Trump himself seized on in voicing his support. But a revolt is now brewing in the ranks of the state GOP after a report last week detailed Whatley’s support for Harvey L. West Jr., 54, who secured leadership positions after serving a stint in prison.
West, in a candid conversation with the Daily Beast, said he was open with the party’s leadership about his past “from day one.” That past includes charges of statutory rape involving three girls, two aged 14 and one aged 16, in 1999, when West was 28 years old and working as a police officer.
“I openly discussed what happened. I openly discussed my time in prison. I openly discussed the charges. And I would tell people, ‘If you want me around, I will work and be glad to do so. If you don’t want me, I’ll go on down the road,’” he said.
In the wake of the uproar over West’s past, he resigned last week as chairman of the party’s 1st Congressional District committee. But Whatley, accused of “championing” West’s ascent within the party, now faces mounting questions as he sees his own star rise with help from the president.
Whatley stepped down from his RNC post last year to run for Senate with the backing of Trump, who had threatened to primary the incumbent, Republican Tom Tillis, after he dared to criticize the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” spending package. Trump endorsed Whatley for the seat over his own daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who dropped her own bid and backed Whatley.
Michele Woodhouse, who ran for election to the U.S. House to represent North Carolina’s 11th Congressional district in 2022, said: “I’ve been warning Michael Watley about this since he was the NCGOP chair.
Asked how the saga affects Republicans in the state, Woodhouse added, “I think it affects, now that Michael’s on the ballot, it affects his race and every down-ballot Republican. They’re all at risk now.”
She added that it creates a headache for Trump and said that she fears that speaking out could spark a “retribution” campaign.
West’s past has sparked criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, with many arguing the GOP should be distancing itself from any links to a sex offender amid continuing fallout over Jeffrey Epstein.
West, who denied being “elevated” to any party positions by Whatley and stressed that he was “elected” to positions of leadership, became active in the state Republican Party after regaining his voting rights following his conviction.
He was selected as an alternate delegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention before stepping down after news reports about his past resurfaced. But he remained active in party circles and emerged as a fundraiser after North Carolina began partisan elections for judicial offices in 2018. West and his wife launched an annual fundraising event called the Down East Judicial Picnic aimed at candidates running for appellate courts and the state Supreme Court.
Most recently, he headed the state GOP’s 1st Congressional District committee. West has also served on the powerful Plan of Organization committee, which influences rule-making.
“I’m resigning because frankly, I’m getting tired. I’m 54-years-old. I’m tired of being a punching bag. The past crimes that you talk about happened almost 30 years ago. I’ve been involved [in state politics] for over 20 years,” he told the Beast.
West served six years in prison after pleading guilty to 16 charges of taking indecent liberties with a child as part of a plea agreement in 1999.
He lamented that both sides have “failed to understand” that prison rehabilitates some people and stressed that his past convictions have long been known.
“Every year around election time, somebody brings this up and makes it sound like it’s a new revelation.”
A source told the Daily Beast that just 13 hours after West stepped down, his wife, Kim Cotten-West, emailed the 1st Congressional District Committee seeking its support in her move to fill her husband’s vacated position.
West said his partner, a former district chair herself, had merely “offered” to finish his term.
Andrew Bates, the North Carolina-born former White House senior deputy press secretary for Joe Biden, was among those to speak out against Whatley in light of his alleged ties to West.
He told the Daily Beast: “Michael Whatley tried to dismiss the bipartisan investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s relationships with powerful people. Now it turns out he gave a convicted child sex predator a top position in the North Carolina Republican Party and shielded him from local party activists who didn’t want him near children. This is the same guy who helped pass the biggest health care cuts in history to lower taxes for the rich. There’s no one Michael Whatley won’t sell out to the well-connected.”
Former Virginia Republican congresswoman and network political analyst Barbara Comstock also took aim at Whatley and Trump’s backing of his campaign.
“How much $$$ will Trump waste on this fool @WhatleyNC ?” she wrote on X. She later added: “Team Trump just can’t quit hanging with sex offenders…”
Mallory Payne, senior communications adviser for the North Carolina Democratic Party, said it is “disgusting and horrifying that Michael Whatley used his position of power to elevate a convicted child sex predator.”
It comes as party leadership passed a resolution this month at its annual convention, calling on the state GOP to bar anyone “convicted of felony sex crimes” from serving as party officers at the local, county, district and state levels. Leadership insists this wasn’t to “target” West.
The White House has repeatedly ignored requests for comment about the links between Trump’s Senate pick and a sex offender. But Trump seemed unfazed in a Truth Social post on Monday morning in which he praised the “so Great” Whatley for “running against a really bad former Governor who set murderers free to kill again.”
“I hope the Great people of North Carolina remember how BAD Roy Cooper was as Governor, especially on crime,” he said of Whatley’s Democratic opponent in the Senate race.
Whatley responded on X, sharing Trump’s post and adding that he will “fight every day to keep North Carolina communities safe and criminals off the streets.”
Vice President JD Vance, during an event in the Tar Heel State on Friday, also heaped praise on Whatley.
“I want to first thank a few of the great people who are here who make this possible and are leading, helping us lead, America’s and North Carolina’s comeback,” he said. Vance added, “To our great Senate candidate here Michael Whatley, thank you Michael for everything that you’re doing.”
Whatley, meanwhile, has also sought to dismiss renewed attention on the Jeffrey Epstein case that has persistently dogged his most high-profile supporter, Trump.
While speaking on the The Howie Carr Show last year when he was still RNC chief, he said: “Yeah, there’s no question about it, the Democrats have just taken a hard pivot from Russia, Russia, Russia to Epstein, Epstein, Epstein, you know, and they’re trying to do anything they can to try and change the narrative. But the fact is, the President is continuing to, you know, deliver every single day for the American people…”
The Daily Beast emailed Whatley and the White House seeking comment but did not receive a reply.
